SACRAMENTO
CITY AND COUNTY
NATOMAS JOINT VISION
By Rick Bettis
Following nearly one year of discussion, the City of Sacramento and Sacramento
County public officials have unveiled their "City/County Joint Planning
Vision in Natomas". This may be the most significant Sacramento area land
use decision since the 1992 County General Plan update. According to a
joint City/County report and pending Memorandum of Understanding (MOU),
this "Joint Vision" will:
- Result in an agreement
to collaboratively manage growth and preservation of open space and
habitat in unincorporated areas of the Natomas basin within Sacramento
County.
- Transfer 10,000-acres
of County land to the City "Sphere of Influence" with probable future
annexation. This land will be designated as Urban Reserve.
- Require, one-acre
of permanent open space be preserved for each acre developed.
- Establish an agreement
between the City and County to share revenues that result from development
of the area.
- Require any future
development be in accordance with adopted "Smart Growth Principles"
and "Infill Strategy".
The potential 10,000-acres of development would be in addition to the
17,500-acres currently planned for development in the 55,000-acre Natomas
Basin. Approximately 4,000-acres have been developed to date. This would
be the first approved alteration of the Urban Services Boundary (USB)
since it was adopted in 1992. County planning officials indicate that
there is sufficient land within the USB to accommodate anticipated growth
for at least 20-years. City planners indicate they are planning to establish
"triggers" or growth "benchmarks" that would need to be reached before
development of the potentially annexed area would be considered.
An important factor is the major Northwest Interceptor Sewer, which is
scheduled for construction within 5-years, and may be designed to accommodate
the development of the proposed annexation. Environmentalists believe
this would amount to premature commitment to development of the area.
Environmental and some community organizations believe development of
the area would be an unwarranted breach of the Urban Services Boundary.
Their concerns include the loss of open space and habitat, impacts of
sprawl including air quality degradation, and the diversion of resources
from needs of existing communities.
The City and County have conducted two public hearings and are meeting
neighborhood associations, businesses, environmental groups, landowners
and other active community members. They have scheduled consideration
of approval of the MOU for early December 2002.
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